Hashtags

I talked a little about hashtags in my last post How to Utilize Social Media but since it’s such an important part of brand awareness I thought I would do a separate article focusing on them.

A lot of people don’t understand how hashtags work and how helpful they can be. Hashtags are links used to group your posts with those that have the same hashtag. For example: if I post a picture with the hashtag #dancer, all the other pictures or videos with #dancer will be listed on the hashtag page. This means that anyone who looks at that specific hashtag page will see my picture as they scroll through the posts. This makes hashtags a great way for lots of people to see your profile.

Even though hashtags are a great way to build your audience, they can also be harmful to your posts if used incorrectly. Like I said in my last article, “You only want to use hashtags that relate to your post.” Here’s why: If your hashtags don’t match the content they’re attached to, then no one will look at your post because it doesn’t belong on the page. A lot of people think the more hashtags the better, which is true, but only if it makes sense for your content.

You also want to look at the hashtag pages before you use them. Even though a hashtag may seem innocent, there are a lot of weird post out there that you may not want to be associated with. Anyone with a social page has access to hashtags and anyone can post to them. To ensure you are presenting yourself in a professional fashion, you definitely want to check the hashtag pages that you will be using.

Another mistake that is made a lot is posting hashtags just for the sake of hashtags. If you post a picture of yourself performing onstage, you don’t want to post #lovemylife. It may be true that you totally love your life, but the hashtag is being used as a filler, not as a serious link. The reason you want to be very specific with the hashtags you use is because you need to think about the audience looking at that hashtag. The person looking at #performer is very different than the person looking at #lovemylife.

Here are some examples of hashtags I’ve used on my posts. I also have a hashtag for my name and whenever I post I use #marinrylee so that I’m building numbers on that hashtag page. I suggest creating a hashtag for yourself to help build a fan base.

2 Comments

Hi Marin! Thank you for the informative article. I knew the basics of using hashtags, that they have to be related to the subject, but I didn’t realize that it’s valuable to check the hashtag pages before using certain hashtags. That makes sense and is a good tip!